[Coco] Another Radio Shack Article

[Bill Loguidice]

I disagree with the idea that Tandy 1000-series systems had any notable
problems with compatibility. While it's true that the Tandy 1000 was
originally meant as an IBM PCjr clone, it was still more compatible than
IBM's own system that it was cloning. Tandy graphics and sound became a
standard in their own right, and it was still backwards compatible with CGA
and PC speaker stuff. While Tandy graphics were not quite as good as EGA,
they were similar enough to be a viable alternative until everyone
standardized on VGA. The built in three channel sound was another big plus,
because no PC clone (or IBM PC) had anything standard other than the
beeper. It also has built in joystick ports, albeit not the same as what
you would get with an optional game (joystick) card. So yeah, with strong
compatibility with standard PC specs, as well as standard quality 16-color
graphics, three channel sound, and built in joystick ports - all without
needing to buy additional cards - it's no wonder that Tandy's 1000-series
thrived in a sea of clones. It was only when the industry caught up (and
surpassed) what Tandy had standard with VGA and (mostly) Sound Blaster
sound that there was no longer an advantage for Tandy to leverage. It's not
surprising then that as clone systems dropped in price, it was no longer
practical for Tandy to keep up, so they had no real choice but to sell off
the PC business.

Not to plug another book of mine on here, but the upcoming "Vintage Game
Consoles" goes into greater detail about all of this in one of the
chapters. I'd also argue that despite what was said here, the CoCo 3 was
never intended to compete with the Apple IIGS or Amiga 500. Those were a
different, higher price structure. The competition for those systems was
the Tandy 1000 series. The CoCo 3 was meant to compete with systems like
the C-64 and C-128 on the low end. For that, it had fairly competitive
specs. Naturally, much like the relatively straightforward tweaking that
Apple could have done with the IIGS to make it better than it was, if Tandy
had made the CoCo 3 too good, it would have competed with what the company
was really trying to push, i.e., the Macintosh and Tandy 1000-series,
respectively. In retrospect, both approaches probably made sense.

-Bill

===================================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade,
Inc.<http://www.armchairarcade.com>
===================================================
Authored Books<http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1>and
Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to get
in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
===================================================


On Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 12:36 PM, Richard E Crislip <rcrislip at neo.rr.com>wrote:

> ANNNDD you had better NOT plug a Tandy printer into a non-Tandy computer!
> Or visa/versa 8-/.
>
> On 01/04/2014 12:17 PM, Frank Pittel wrote:
>
>> I remember when Tandy started selling the PC compatibles. The problem was
>> that they
>> weren't completely compatible. There were a lot of issues with running a
>> lot of "pc"
>> software and didn't offer any additional functionality.
>>
>> The Other Frank
>>
>>